All That You Love
by girlfromtheotherside
Summary: After 3x22. Olivia is having dreams. But they're not quite dreams. They're little breadcrumbs that are leading her to the truth of Peter's existence. Starts off K but becomes M  of course .
1. Chapter 1

_And all that you love will be carried away_

_To find it again you must be willing to stay_

_And hope upon hope it will find you again_

_The same as it left you on that long ago day_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: You Believe Dreams Have Meaning, Don't You?<br>**

The smell was the first thing she noticed. Or rather remembered. She had been here before. It smelled… warm. If warm had a smell. Her thoughts turned to cinnamon. Maybe not as sharp but it was definitely there. And musty. That was what it mostly smelled like. Warm and cinnamon and musty. Like the place had stood closed and forgotten for ages and only opened now that she was there.

The room was dimly lit. As it always was. Her trained eye scanned the empty tables for a sign of life more than her own. But she knew she wouldn't find it. There was never anybody there besides herself. It was always the same.

Olivia walked in slowly; feeling each step as she went. Nothing was a reflex here. Even her breathing was conscious and deliberate. Her mind worked like a sponge to take in every last detail of the place. She wanted to remember every thing.

Her table. It was just a table. But over time it had become hers. Always on the same spot. She pulled out the same chair she usually did and sat down. Her chin rested lightly on one raised hand while the fingers of the other toyed absentmindedly with a wayward thread from the aged tablecloth. The little glowing ball of candlelight that was ushered through a cracked lamp in the middle of the table – her table – caught her attention. It was dying out. And soon he would come. The faceless voice. As he always did.

He would bend down low so that his breath played warm and ticklish against her ear and he would offer her a new one. She always wondered why he didn't simply re-ignite the one she had but never said this much. Instead, she would nod yes and wait. And wait.

The faceless voice never would replace her dying light. He would merely straighten and drift by her table, making his way toward somewhere she didn't know. And as he walked, no, drifted - that was the right way to describe it because it didn't really look like his feet touched the ground at all. As he drifted, the lamps died out on the tables he would pass. Only they didn't die – he took them. And Olivia would sit and watch until hers was the only one left. Barely burning. She always wondered why he didn't take hers.

A cold draught made its way up her leg and traveled all the way up her spine, making the hair on her arms stand on end. Olivia stiffened. Not at the draught, it always happened that way. But at the thought of what was coming. What the draught inevitably signaled.

She looked around for something she didn't quite know what. Perhaps tonight was planning on being different all on its own. Perhaps she wouldn't have to work very hard to get the answers she was looking for.

She held her breath as the sound of footsteps started behind her. She knew he wasn't really walking but there were footsteps nonetheless. She didn't turn to look at him either because she knew he would come to her on his own. So she sat. And she waited.

And he appeared.

At her shoulder as always; just out of view so that she would have to turn her head to get a look at him. She didn't. She simply sat and waited for him to do what he did every time he came to her. And he did.

"Would you like me to change it for you?" He whispered to her.

Olivia nodded, not lifting her eyes from the dim glimmer as it struggled for life in front of her. But just as she knew he would, the faceless voice straightened and started to drift away. She wasn't sure if it would work or not and before she even knew what she would say, Olivia felt the muscles of his arm tighten under her assertive grip. She was standing now but his back was still turned to her. He didn't move and she didn't let go of him.

"Where am I?" Her tone was inquisitive and calm despite the hammering of her heart inside her chest.

She heard him smile. Was that even possible? Apparently so. It was a cold and heartless smile. So not a smile at all really, but even so.

"You are here," came the cryptic response.

Olivia's brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of it and she felt her heart sink when she failed. Still, the faceless voice did not turn to her and still, she held onto his arm. And tried again.

"What is this place?" Still calm but her words were weighted with somewhat more urgency than before.

"It's a restaurant, Agent Dunham. The same as the last."

He knew who she was. Olivia let go of his arm in the shock of hearing her name pass his lips and then he turned to face her. She blinked quickly in an effort to refocus her gaze. She could see him. The voice finally had a face.

"Have you made a decision?"

His smile didn't reach his eyes. She couldn't see it but she could feel it. There was no face. She knew he had one. She could feel that too. But it wasn't there. He stepped closer to her and Olivia could feel the cold from his body invade her space. Any other person and it would have been warmth. But not this person. If that's what he even was.

"Agent Dunham," her name sounded like gravely filth when he said it. "-have you made a decision?" He repeated himself, still smiling that cold, faceless smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Her skin began to crawl and she shook her head quickly; her gaze now on something indistinct on the floor. She couldn't bear to look at him any longer. It gave her a strange sense of motion sickness when she did.

"Very well," he turned from her and started drifting away again.

Slowly but surely Olivia found herself in growing darkness as he took the lights from the remaining tables as he went. She turned to check her table and was surprised to find her lamp still there. Still glimmering sadly away in the cracked glass. A gust of wind came up from somewhere she didn't know and the light flickered dangerously. This didn't happen before. He didn't speak her name and there was no gust of wind but now it was different. Now he knew who she was and now things were starting to happen.

A panic sprang up in her chest. She didn't know why but it seemed important that the light not go out. It was the first time in all of her visits to this place that Olivia felt afraid. She made her way back to her table with the purpose of what, saving the light? Protecting it from the inexplicable wind? And why? She had more questions now than when she had arrived and was nowhere near to having any of them answered.

The light flickered and swayed. Olivia lunged for the lamp, cupping her shaking hands around it as the light disappeared. And sprang back to life again. A deep sigh of relief escaped her parted lips. A sigh a little too deep. Carried a little too far.

The room went black as the last light in it died out and Olivia jumped as a hand came to rest on her shoulder.

* * *

><p>"You believe dreams have meaning, don't you?"<p>

"Sometimes. And sometimes your dreams are nothing more than an exaggeration of what you're feeling."

"You said that if something changed, you would listen to me."

"Yes well you've never been one for good timing, Agent Dunham."

Olivia watched as Walter Bishop shrugged the lab coat from his shoulders and tossed it over the back of his chair. She was at the Harvard Lab before sunrise that morning; the changing events in what had become a recurring dream driving her to get answers. And she came to the one place she could think they would be.

"Doctor Bishop-" she started but was waved to silence by a harried Walter as he brushed passed her.

"The others are on their way. You do realize that we have more important matters to discuss than things that go bump in the night?" His back was turned to her the whole time he spoke and he was almost out the door when Olivia started after him.

"What if the thing going bump is in another universe?"

This last ditch attempt on her part to grab the attention of the absent-minded genius worked as well as Olivia had hoped. Walter froze in his steps and slowly turned toward her.

"A universe that's not ours or theirs," she spoke quickly once she realized she had his attention.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, I don't believe that this is just a recurring dream. It feels too – rational," she ended, relieved to finally be heard.

"I think this is something more."

"Like what?" he asked, making his way back to where she stood; fully interested in her story for the first time.

"I'm not sure. But if last night was anything to go by, I think I'm running out of time to find out."

* * *

><p>"Our trial project was a success," Walter Bishop's voice reverberated around the room as he spoke and all eyes were focused on his imposing form. "We now know with certainty that the parallels between our two universes are connected on a cosmic level that imbues significant power to synchronicities as they occur."<p>

"And in English that means what?" A sarcastic voice piped up from somewhere behind Olivia and she knew without looking that it had come from an alternate. Agent Lee to be exact.

There was a muffled chuckle from a few others, also alternates Olivia guessed, who found their co-worker as funny as he found himself. Walter's face, however, remained gravely stern as he surveyed them.

"It means that the very basic laws of science are in play here," Walter spoke for the first time that day.

He stood up so that they could all see him and Olivia felt a chill go up her spine as she looked upon the two Walter Bishops as they stood side by side. One, a handsome man comfortably wearing charcoal Armani and an air of authority that indicated they were both part of his nature. The other, less distinguished and much more thrown together in a worn-through green woolen sweater and corduroy slacks that seemed at least one size too big as it bunched under his old leather belt. It was this Walter that had spoken now; her Walter, Olivia thought proudly as she smiled at the disheveled state in front of her. He returned her smile somewhat sheepishly before continuing.

"For every action on our side, there is an equal albeit opposite reaction on yours. But," he raised his voice and a pointed finger at this word, "we have found a way to synchronize these actions so that they become mirrors," he held his hands up with palms facing each other and brought them slowly together as he spoke.

"Instead of opposite reactions, we can manipulate a series of actions that will mirror each other to create a kind of balance," his hands finally met and his fingers interlaced. "Until eventually our two worlds will find one rhythm and the tears and vortexes will cease to be part of our reality."

"Your reality doesn't sound very realistic," Agent Lee said with a bemused tone and Olivia watched as Walter's excited face dropped along with his hands, fingers still laced together.

"Agent Lee if your contributions have no more weight than what you've been offering please be so kind as to spare us," the other Walter said sternly and watched as his words wiped the smile from Lincoln's face.

"I have a question," Astrid's voice rang out clear as she stood.

Olivia looked around to meet Astrid's gaze but found that it was glued to her hands as they rested in her lap. It seemed that she was having as much difficulty as Olivia when it came to interacting with her alternate and preferred not to look at her double as she took the floor.

"Agent Farnsworth," Walter nodded his permission for her to speak. The other Walter had long since retaken his seat next to Olivia by this time, further reinstating the common understanding that this ship was run by one Bishop only.

"After all the damage that has been done up to this point, how long do you think it will take before our worlds become synchronized? And what will it take for that to happen?"

"The details of our next trial are laid out in the briefs you will be getting after this meeting. Your superiors will be taking you through them step by step."

"One other thing," Astrid's alternate continued, "You asked me to monitor the stability or rather instability of our two worlds in order to create a map for the proposed Bi-Universal Synchronization," she looked at Walter and he nodded for her to carry on. "Over the past four weeks I've been noticing some interference in the plasmodic bases."

"What kind of interference?" This question came from the other Bishop.

"And you're only just mentioning this?" Charlie's alternate sat up straight as he spoke.

This time Olivia did look. She stared. Her friend and partner had been encased in amber a year previous and the fact that his alternate was still alive was one of two things that she envied about the other side. She missed her Charlie and often found herself looking forward to the weekly recon sessions because it meant she would get to see him again.

"I haven't been able to localize or identify it yet," the other Astrid's voice brought her back to the matter at hand. "But it's definitely not coming from here, I mean us. Or you," she ended, looking at Olivia and her counterparts.

"Did you say bases? As in it is happening to both universes?" Walter was standing again.

"Yes, whatever it is is affecting both universes on a subatomic level. The instances are always simultaneous and seem to be fixed to occur between the hours of 3 and 5am but never at the exact moment twice. This is all the information I have."

Olivia straightened in her chair at this last bit. The alternate Astrid had placed the unexplained interferences at roughly the same time she had been waking from her strange recurring dreams. She immediately thought that she had found a connection.

"How do you know it's not from here? Or there?" she asked.

"There's a signal or a mix of electro-magnetic impulses and something I can't yet define that is interfering with my monitoring system and it's coming from an unknown location."

Olivia looked at Walter to find that he had been staring at her all this time. She knew that his thoughts were on their earlier conversation and it confirmed her suspicion that there must be a connection.

"So you're suggesting another universe?" Olivia's question started a series of snorts and rebukes from the alternates and worried glances from her own colleagues.

"I don't have enough information to hazard a guess yet. But my initial thoughts are that our work to fix what is wrong with our worlds will be futile if we are vulnerable to other forces."

"Thank you, Agent Farnsworth, you can be seated." Questioning faces turned to Walter as he silenced Astrid. "We don't have the time or resources to be distracted by what is clearly technical errors in your data."

Astrid's mouth dropped in consternation. Clearly her expertise had never been called into question before.

"Sir, with all due respect I-"

"I said that's enough, Agent." The room fell to silence once again and a cool tension filled the air between them. "I think we can adjourn for today and-"

"Wait," Olivia cut in, her voice shaky but loud enough to herald the attention of the leader Bishop.

She felt the eyes of everyone burn into her face as it reddened under their stares but she resolved to continue nonetheless.

"I think I can help you," she spoke to the alternate Astrid. "I've been having this dream-"

"Olivia," Walter's voice came from beside her; a low warning for her to not say what she was about to. She obviously ignored it.

"I don't think it's a dream though. I think I'm somewhere and it's not here… or anywhere I've been. It feels-"

"Like a dream?" Lincoln broke in with a chuckle that Olivia chose to ignore as well.

"It feels like I'm somewhere… real. And there's something I'm supposed to find out. Or know. Or someone. I don't-"

"Let's work together to try and form an actual sentence."

"Let the lady talk."

The jibes from the alternates did little to instill confidence in what Olivia had to say and she fumbled a bit for her next words.

"I have a sense about these things. And I think this could be the answer we've been looking for." This time she turned her imploring gaze to the other Walter who had been silently listening to her with his arms folded across his chest.

"I think that wherever this place is, it has answers that will help us fix what is wrong with both our worlds."

"So your spidey-sense is telling you this is another altverse? How can we go on that? How can you be sure?" Lincoln was hard pressed to give her a break his demanding tone let her know it.

"I don't know. I just am," she replied evenly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, she just am." Lincoln seemed proud that his last remark got a few laughs and he played it up for what it was worth.

"Hey!"

Her voice came from behind her. The word uttered from her lips. Olivia turned to see her face staring down Agent Lee, the only discernable difference being the fiery mane that framed it.

"Would you quit it already? I want to hear what she has to say."

Lincoln seemed to respond to the alternate Olivia the way he hadn't even to the leader Bishop. It was clear to Olivia that he had the utmost respect for her and it made sense that he would be antagonistic toward the woman who looked like her but wasn't. She could definitely relate and her attitude toward him softened a bit.

"So what do you suggest we do?" the deep voice of a Bishop called Olivia's attention but Walter jumped in before she could answer.

"I believe that if we tweak Agent Farnsworth's monitoring system just a bit we can-"

"I don't feel too comfortable with people tweaking… my system," Astrid ended feebly once she realized what she had just said and how it had sounded.

She watched Charlie and Lincoln stifle a chuckle and turned back to Walter.

"Oh not to worry, dear. I completely understand. But we will be able to localize the target of the signals even though we can't yet find their origin. We can set it up to measure the-"

"Or just come to my apartment," Olivia said and once again all eyes were on her. "I'm the target. They've been trying to tell me something. And they're going to do it again tonight."

* * *

><p>"Thank you, for giving me a chance."<p>

"No problem. I really was interested in what you had to say. I want this to be done with as much as everyone else."

Olivia gave a pained smile as she surveyed her alternate's face as it lit up so easily. When she smiled, her eyes danced. She seemed lighter, happier. And then her smile dropped, probably in response to being stared at so closely. Olivia couldn't help herself though; her eyes remained locked on a face that should be hers, but wasn't.

"Is everything okay?" her alternate asked hesitantly.

Olivia quickly put on one of her masking smiles and shook her head.

"Everything's fine. It's just… how's Mom?" The question left her mouth before it had even formed in her brain and Olivia immediately pursed her lips tightly in regret.

The other thing that she envied about the other side - her mother was there. And why had she said _Mom_? As if they shared her. Why hadn't she said _Your mom_? Because a part of her liked to believe that her mother was alive. Even though it was in a reality other than her own.

Her alternate's gaze softened visibly. She was not thrown by the question, it was almost as if she had expected it a lot sooner.

"She's good," Fauxlivia said softly and smiled. "She started an origami class."

They both laughed at this, somehow both finding the same humor in the seemingly mundane statement.

"Makes the most beautiful things though," Fauxlivia continued. And then her eyes misted over and she swallowed hard before speaking again. "I'm sure your niece would love them."

Olivia's eyes locked with hers and she understood then that there were things that they both envied about the other. Fauxlivia no longer had her sister and never got to watch her sister's baby grow up. And they stood that way for a while, acknowledging the differences between them but finding solace in the things that made them the same.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Fauxlivia was first to speak.

"If Astrid, I mean, your – if she and Walter can find anything tonight then yes."

"They're two brilliant minds so I'm pretty sure they will."

Olivia nodded and watched as her alternate left the room to return to her side, and it was with a lingering sense of sadness that Olivia turned and did the same. She wished she could be as hopeful about their experiment that night. She more than anyone, wanted to get to the bottom of what was happening.

* * *

><p><em><strong>So I am still trying to figure out how to write all of them interacting with their alternates without being too confusing. It's difficult but I hope to get the hang of something soon:) And with that I have my first chapter of my first fic ever! Reviews are obligatory btw:p I need to know what you think3<strong>_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: When Things Change, They Rarely Do**

* * *

><p><em>Cinnamon. Dimly lit. Breath on her ear. Would you like me to change it for you? This time it was No. <em>

"Alright, Olivia, you can go to sleep now."

_Who are you? Silence. The right question this time? Things felt different. Things had changed. Was it because of her? _

"Agent Dunham, we need you to try and remember as much as you can about where you go – how you get there, what you see…"

_It does not matter who I am. Faceless voice. Or where you are. Cold smile. Drifting away. Lights going out. It does matter. It matters to me. Who are you?_

"Try asking different questions this time. Force the dream to change, to take on a new light. You can do this, Olivia."

…_shouldn't be here. There is more than one voice now and it's hard to hear. …should not have brought you. Her light is gone. Darkness. The hand on her shoulder. Don't wake up. Turn around. I'm not afraid. Don't wake up. Olivia –_

* * *

><p>"He said my name." Olivia's voice was low as she spoke to Astrid over a cup of coffee. "His voice was – warm, I don't know how else to describe it but he didn't scare me. If anything he made me feel safe."<p>

They were in the lab, standing at a table where Astrid was babysitting Walter's latest experiment – an empty bell jar.

"Okay," Astrid said slowly. "So what does that mean?"

Olivia shook her head in frustration and shrugged; her fingers drumming the paper cup in her hand.

"I don't know. I was supposed to get answers but it's like every time I go there I'm more confused."

"Walter said that the readings they got weren't good enough."

"He doesn't believe me," Olivia said, trying not to sound crestfallen but failing miserably.

"Olivia-"

Astrid stopped mid-sentence as she noticed her colleague's eyes inexplicably filling up. It was unlike her to show this kind of emotion at the drop of a hat. The Agent Dunham she knew was always contained to the point of restrained.

"Olivia," she repeated, this time with more concern but sure to keep the tone in her voice soft. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know what's happening to me," she responded desperately, swiping at the tears that betrayed her as they fell onto her cheeks.

"I feel like I should know what this is, like I do know but I – I don't - I can't – "

"It's okay," Astrid tried comfort but her hand felt misplaced on Olivia's shoulder. She wasn't sure if this kind of closeness was warranted or even welcome.

"You're putting too much pressure yourself. Whatever this is that's happening, you shouldn't let it have so much power over you."

"I just feel so – lost, you know? I find myself wondering around and I'll end up in a place I didn't know I was going to. Strange places." The tears threatened but no longer fell as Olivia's eyes stared into faraway and unknown places and her voice took on a dreamy sound.

The two colleagues and friends stood in contemplative silence; each with as many questions as the other written on their faces.

"You know that feeling you get when you miss someone?" Olivia finally spoke.

But it was more to herself than to Astrid, who nodded and tried to smile. It didn't reach her eyes though; she didn't understand Olivia's behavior any more than anyone else did but she tried to be a good friend about it.

"Or – it's like I've lost someone but I can't remember who or when –" the tears in her throat cut her sentence short.

"Do you think that maybe this is about your mom?" Astrid offered softly but Olivia shook her head earnestly.

"No, Walter suggested it at first but I don't feel this kind of loss when I think about her. It's not like that anymore. And this feeling, this – heaviness – I don't have it there." Olivia's eyes softened as she looked hopefully at Astrid.

"When I'm there – I feel like I'm where I should be. It feels safe."

"That place isn't real, Olivia," Astrid's tone carried a warning. "I know that when things are hard it seems better to live in dreams but you –"

"It's not a dream," Olivia spoke evenly but her tone was stern and sure. "I can't make sense of it now but I know that I will. What I'm feeling – I don't know what it is but it's strong. And it's there… wherever there is."

Astrid pursed her lips and nodded. She knew better than to take the argument any further. Once Olivia Dunham had her mind made up about something Astrid lifted her head from the floor and little shards of glass fell from her curls as she did. Her eyes fell on Olivia who was already regaining her footing as she brushed thousands of splinters from her shirt and pants.

"What the hell was that?"

"Are you okay?" Olivia asked as she rushed over to help Astrid into a sitting position.

"I – I think so," Astrid responded and winced as Olivia's thumb brushed a tiny cut on her cheek. "What the hell was that?" she repeated.

"Haha! I was right!" Walter's voice came from across the lab. "It works!"

The two women shifted their gaze to the genius scientist as he emerged from behind a pillar and made his way towards them. Or rather towards the table that housed the million little pieces of glass that used to be his empty bell jar. Olivia struggled with Astrid as she rose shakily to her feet and waited quietly for some sort of explanation that they both felt would soon follow.

"Take that Agent Farnswob! Uh, not you dear," Walter added sincerely as he turned to Astrid. "Aha! I was right! And she was wrong!"

Olivia and Astrid watched in puzzlement as Walter proceeded to do a celebratory jig around the table. They chose the exact same moment to look at one another and found their confusion mirrored in the face of the other.

* * *

><p>"When Agent Farnswil and I-"<p>

"Worth. Farns. Worth."

"- when we were with Agent Dunham – I mean – our – uh – this one," Walter finally said, pointing to Olivia. "When we were monitoring her apartment for any interference last night we didn't pick up much."

"Anything," came alternate Astrid's impatient voice again. "We didn't pick up anything. The readings we got were too miniscule to signify anything of importance and-"

"There was a low register of radiation," Walter broke in, affronted at being interrupted.

"Radiation so low that it could have been explained by the use of a microwave oven two doors away," the other Astrid shot back.

Agents Lee, Francis and Dunham were all gathered at The Bridge for the briefing as planned. Olivia and Astrid sat opposite them. The absence of the leader Bishop was hardly felt as all eyes were on Walter and occasionally Astrid as she kept interrupting.

"There was more," Walter continued as if Astrid had not spoken. "Something I couldn't explain. Like a – a shift. You felt it too," Walter directed this last at Astrid before she could begin her counter-argument.

Her mouth still open as if she were getting ready to speak, Astrid conceded to Walter and remained silent.

"So long story short – you didn't find anything, but you found something," Charlie asked bemused.

"Exactly!" Walter responded, too excited about his discovery to care about Charlie's sarcasm.

"I decided to try a little experiment to see if my suspicions were correct." He rounded the table so that he stood facing them all.

"We know that our instruments may not be advanced enough to find critical proof of soft spots in micro chasms. But!" Walter raised his finger in the air to emphasize this word, "we have another instrument that doesn't rely on our archaic technology."

The good doctor's clever use of mystery had the agents in the palm of his hand; even the other Astrid was now listening closely as well.

"Feelings." Walter said simply and his face broke into a slow smile. That became a low chuckle. Until eventually he was laughing.

"Is he okay?" Lincoln leaned over to whisper to a confused Charlie who shrugged slowly and shook his head.

"We know that emotion," Walter said after composing himself, "- if powerful enough like – like love for instance – can open up doorways between universes. It's happened before. You have that data," Walter spoke again to Astrid and she nodded.

"So I decided to do a little experiment with Agent Dunham. This one," Walter pointed to Olivia once more to clarify. "While she was asleep and supposedly dreaming, I found that the most activity we could detect was when really close to her. So I sampled the electro-magnetic field with-"

"Is that what you were doing?" Astrid broke in again.

Her face wore an expression of puzzlement but the tone in her voice with filled with awe and admiration.

"Olivia, you made a phone call to our Astrid this morning saying that you were coming to the lab."

"You were listening to our conversation?" she asked, her question being enough of an affirmation for Walter.

"Just Astrid's part, but I could deduce from her responses that you were coming to talk about these alleged dreams."

He looked up to find Astrid scowling at his blatant disregard for her privacy and guiltily dropped his gaze from hers before continuing. It would be more accurate to say that she was feigning a scowl to hide her increasing elation every time Walter got her name right. Since meeting with the alternates he had been doing that more and more often, while messing up the other Astrid's name instead.

Astrid didn't bring his attention to it, however, afraid that she might jinx it and be forced to go back to being called wild and wonderful things like Asterix and Astro. Walter's voice brought her back to what was happening in the room and she looked up to see him hunched over the table.

"I used the bell jar as a test and then asked you to watch it closely. I told you that your proximity to the jar would determine the success of the experiment; knowing that Olivia would also have to stand close to the jar if she wanted to speak with you and knowing that she would be speaking about her experiences in these alleged dreams –" Walter paused for effect, drinking in the avid attention of his listeners.

"I posit that Agent Dunham's apartment is not a soft spot but that the soft spot- because of the emotional attachment Agent Dunham has for this place, for whatever reason... the soft spot… is anywhere she is."

The silence in the room was solid, like they had been flung into a sound proof bubble.

"You said someone spoke to you," Walter addressed Olivia directly in a low, gravely voice.

She took her eyes off him to stare at some infinitesimal speck of dust on the table in front of her. She didn't have to work hard to recall the voice that had spoken her name. The voice that she was sure belonged to the hand that touched her shoulder. The touch and the voice – strangely familiar and yet

"You said he knew your name."

The sudden low tone of Walter's voice made Olivia start and she looked up to see a slight amber mist that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Walter pressed on.

"That he touched you."

The amber mist thickened and took on a glow that grew stronger and stronger.

Olivia's phone vibrated in her pocket and she shook her head as if to clear it from some unseen obstacle.

She reached for the phone and saw her sister's name emblazoned on the screen.

"Liv? Did you forget about dinner?" her sister's voice filtered through to her as she took the call.

She could hear Ella in the background singing what sounded like that pina colada song she could never remember the name of.

"No of course not," Olivia smiled. "But I'm in the middle of -" the end of her sentence disappeared from her head and therefore never left her lips.

Olivia, who had looked up for the first time, found herself alone in the room that seconds ago had held the principle Fringe team at their mid-morning briefing. She brought the phone from her ear to check the time on the screen.

6:02pm.

* * *

><p>"I know that it's late but I need to talk to you," Olivia said as she strode into the familiar apartment without an invitation.<p>

Her eyes swept her surroundings fleetingly and the absence of strangeness caught her attention. Had she expected to feel differently? It had been a while since the last time she was there and the circumstances were a lot different. But it still felt the same.

Olivia swept the hair from her shoulders, swirled it around her finger in a swift action that implied it was something she did all the time and brought it neatly to the front of her right shoulder in a loose bunch. Her eyes fell on a photo that held the primary spot at the center of the mantle piece. The frame had changed since the last time she had been there. It was now a dark maple. Olivia thought it did the picture more justice than the previous flimsy glass one.

After dinner with her sister and niece – she was on the verge of canceling but thought better of it; Rachel would undoubtedly have a hundred questions about why, what and where and she was in no mood for that - her first instinct was to go see Walter but she decided against it. She wasn't in the mood to have to convince anyone of anything either. Olivia wasn't quite sure what kind of mood she was in but she knew that she just wanted to talk. To be heard and maybe through talking, a bit of sense would miraculously jump out at her and every last piece of this puzzle will fall into place. Things seldom worked out that way for her though but Olivia was satisfied with just being able to talk. Then why wasn't she saying anything? Because, Olivia answered herself. And that's where her reasoning ended.

"Does anyone know you're here?" her voice came from behind her.

Olivia shook her head no; her face reflected in that of her mother's as the original Dunham smiled shyly back at her, a glass of what was most likely a dry Merlot in her hand and the other holding what seemed to be a certificate of some kind. She had been celebrating something. Olivia wondered if she had taken the picture and then corrected the mind-jump her brain had just made. If the other Olivia had taken the picture. The onset of what Olivia knew would become a pounding headache started its slow, rhythmic drumming at her temples. She was thinking too much. And she was tired.

She almost did not want to take her eyes off the photo but forced her gaze away from it and onto Olivia, who had been waiting patiently at the closed door for some kind of explanation. Olivia shifted uncomfortably on the spot. The sense of being home was slowly beginning to leave her as she started to feel more and more that she was intruding. When had coming here been a good idea? And how had she rationalized it? She dropped her eyes to study the rug at her feet while she groped hopelessly for something to say that would make her being there okay. She thought she had an idea when she was on her way there but now, not so much.

There was movement in the room and when Olivia looked up, her alternate had moved to the kitchen and the sound of water working its way to boiling point drifted out to her. She stood rooted to the spot for a while, thinking if it could be as simple as this. Sitting together in their kitchen sharing a conversation over a cup of tea. And mom? Could it be as simple as her mother being there too?

Her feet carried her toward the kitchen before her brain told them to and Olivia entered to find her alternate perched on the counter, her feet swinging idly below her as she waited for the water to boil. Her face was empty, or rather calm; no curiosity or irritation or questions or jokes. The other Olivia simply sat. And waited.

Comfortable, Olivia thought. Like we do this all the time. That was what was on her face. And she suddenly understood what Olivia was doing. She's waiting for me. She won't push, I wouldn't do that. She knows that I'll talk when I'm ready to. That's what I would do. Olivia stood motionless in the doorway and even though she knew that her alternate was waiting for her to say something, she couldn't find any words that seemed worth interrupting the silence.

As if sensing this, the alternate Olivia lifted herself from the counter with a jump; her unsoled feet not making a sound as she landed. The water had boiled and she started pouring it into two cups that had been prepared for tea. Of course, Olivia thought as she watched her closely, no coffee here. She studied the movements her alternate made, making mental notes as she went. The way she gripped the handle of the kettle when she poured water, the way her free hand hovered in mid air as it waited for a job to do, the number of times the teaspoon circled the cup before being tapped exactly twice on the thin rim and placed on the counter. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. It was eerie how alike they were. Like the same person. Which they were, Olivia reminded herself.

"I'm not you, Liv," her alternate said as if reading her thoughts.

She turned and held out a steaming cup of tea to Olivia whose hand rose to take it more out of reflex than anything. Milk, she thought as she looked down at the cup in her hands. Two sugars probably, she mused. And she felt a tug in her middle. The feeling she got when she was being pulled somewhere. A feeling Olivia decided to fight for the time being.

"I mean, yeah, essentially we're the same," the other Olivia continued. "But in all the ways that don't matter right now."

Olivia said nothing. And didn't drink from her cup. She preferred her warm drinks black with one sugar and the thought comforted her for some reason. It was as if it gave her a sense of identity.

"I know why you're here," her voice started again. "But I can't help you. I don't have the answers you need. I don't know what's happening to you or why or what the significance is… if there is any."

She was right. Olivia had come there out of desperation, wanting so badly to find answers that she thought there might be a chance that they could do it together. She was her, after all. And maybe, just maybe –

"It happened again," she was surprised at how calm her voice sounded even to her own ears. "I went there, at least I think I did. I can't remember."

The other Olivia nodded for her to continue. And she did.

"Didn't you see it? Didn't you notice there was something different?"

A frown blemished her alternate's face and it was the first time she saw any kind of expression that whole evening.

"What are you talking about?"

"At the brief," Olivia explained, "-when the soft spot started up…"

"Yeah, we got a Fringe alert and the whole thing stopped."

"What?"

"Dr. Bishop said that he was going to come up with a control to do with you so that we could get to the bottom of this whole thing and then we left."

"You left." Olivia repeated her last words in an effort to help her brain catch up. She was desperately trying to fill the gaps in her memory caused by her blackout.

"What time was that?"

"Around eleven-thirty I think."

"So you didn't see anything strange happening to me?"

"No, actually you were the first to go. Said you had to be somewhere and walked out."

"So I was there? I talked to you?"

The other Olivia nodded slowly, the strange and unexplained had little effect on her anymore – a consequence of working in the Fringe Division. Olivia was not sure whether it was a good thing or not just yet.

"Did I say where I was going?"

This time, to Olivia's dismay, her alternate's response was not a nod but a headshake. So she was there and she was lucid. And apparently she had some place to be. Olivia tried to piece it all together but there was nothing but fuzz in her head, like the static channel on a tv but muted.

"Maybe you should check your GPS. Those things have a history so I'm sure you'd be able to get something from it."

Olivia nodded, hope beginning to rise in her chest. She had never been more thankful for modern technology. It was well after 10pm now but she could get the addresses from her GPS and check them out first thing in the morning. Hopefully she would get some answers and not run into more brick walls.

"So I was right," she said, a slight smile playing at the corners of her lips.

"About what?"

"You being able to help me."

Olivia's smile was mirrored to her then and that feeling of unspoken kinship returned.

"Try to not let anyone see you when you leave," were the last words spoken that night as Olivia buttoned up her coat and made her way back to the other side.

Her side, she reminded herself, back to her side.

* * *

><p>The address sounded familiar to Olivia but she couldn't quite think why. Upon her return she had immediately checked the history on her GPS and the results were mostly ordinary - Starbucks, the lab and The Bridge and then there was this last one. Although she had decided to leave it til the morning, Olivia's curiosity got the better of her and she decided to go for a drive. It wasn't that far out of her way and she just wanted to see if it would trigger any memories for her. Everywhere would be closed now anyway so the real business would be done tomorrow. What could it hurt to just take a drive?<p>

And now she stood parked on the side of the road, a road she had been in before on two separate occasions that she could remember. It had happened on one of those long walks she had told Astrid about, the walks where she would wonder aimlessly and end up in places that were strange to her. This was one of those places. And she had ended up here twice. Sitting in her car she looked up the street ahead of her, there were some clothing stores and a café, none of which jogged any kind of memory with her.

Olivia tried to focus her mind but kept drawing a blank. When she came here, she would be standing on the sidewalk and facing the opposite side of the street. Both times it was on the same spot and both times she was looking across the street. The last time it happened Olivia had stood for a full fifteen minutes, watching people and animals coming and going as she tried to figure out what the hell she was supposed to be seeing.

Something caught her attention and she turned her head. A light was still burning in one of the stores across the street. It was almost midnight and although the store was clearly closed, the light inside indicated that there was still some sort of activity. Olivia's eyes ran the length of the street, everything was in darkness. Her gaze came to rest on the little store once again.

Olivia was a science girl; she never accepted explanations of fate and destiny. And yet there was that tug again, in her middle, pulling her somewhere. But she fought it again. The other feeling, however, was stronger. And this feeling she didn't fight. Mostly because she didn't want to. And before she realized what she was doing, Olivia was tapping on the glass door just above a big cardboard sign that read CLOSED in big block letters.

She cupped her hands to the pane in order to eliminate her reflection and better see what was happening inside, if anything was happening. Her hot breath misted the glass in front of her and as she screwed up her eyes to focus the sound of latches made her start and the door swung open lazily.

An alarmed Olivia looked around for the presence that so stealthily welcomed her and eventually a gruff throat-clearing sound pulled her gaze down to where it met a balding little man with thick glasses that magnified his eyes at least three times.

* * *

><p>"You know, I don't usually do this," the little man spoke as he winded his way through books that were haphazardly arranged on the floor.<p>

A bewildered Olivia followed in his wake. She was in a bookstore. And judging by the reception she had just received, she had been here before. She looked around, waiting for something to jumpstart her memory but nothing did.

"That gun on your waist kinda makes me think twice about telling you to suck the big one and get lost." The little man disappeared behind the storefront counter for a second and then reappeared. At normal height, which suggested he was making use of some kind of raised platform back there.

"So," he said, his tone much lighter now. "Have you made a decision?"

Olivia was in the restaurant again. The faceless voice. The cold smile. Those were his words to her. Always his words. And she always said no. But this wasn't that place. And this wasn't him. And _"Try asking different questions this time. Force the dream to change, to take on a new light. You can do this, Olivia." _

She nodded yes.

"Good choice," the little man responded with more excitement than Olivia anticipated.

She started to worry about what she had just said yes to as he bent down and started rummaging around behind the counter.

"I must admit, I didn't pin for you this type of girl when you first came in here," the disembodied voice filtered over to her. "But hey, you asked me to keep it aside for you and I did."

When I first came in here? I asked for a book? Olivia's heart was now pounding in her ears and the tugging sensation was back, stronger now. A hand braced itself on the top of the counter, anchored by short stubby fingers, and then the rest of him appeared. He slammed a book down, the sound echoing precariously through the empty store, and pushed it toward her. Olivia was standing a bit too far to see what it was, and most of her didn't really want to. She lifted her head and leaned forward anyway, straining to catch the title on the sleeve.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, surveying her curiously.

Olivia looked up at him, her mind racing for an appropriate response. Yes, there was a problem. She was afraid. Afraid of a book. And something was pulling her somewhere and she wasn't sure if she should go. And what was he doing up at this hour? And why had he not sent her on her merry way when she knocked at the door? How did he know she had a gun? And how many times had she been to this store?

She shook her head no and slowly approached the counter; her heartbeat providing a heavy rhythm to her steps as she moved. The blurred lettering on the book started to come in to focus as she got closer…

_If You Meet The Buddha On The Road, Kill Him _

The tugging became a pulling and this time, for whatever reason, Olivia let it take her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it took so long for me to update but it's here now:) I'm starting to feel pressure to finish this before Fringe Season 4 starts... WHICH IS ONLY A WEEK AWAY OMFG I CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE I SURVIVED THIS HIATUS! Hope you enjoy XD**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: It's That Tip-Of-The-Tongue Feeling<strong>

Olivia took her time dressing. It was already after 8am but she was in no hurry to get to work. For once she had been woken by her alarm and not the voice of Broyles telling her to meet him at some obscure crime scene and besides that, she was trying to remember what had happened the night before.

Her eyes found the book as it rested ominously on her nightstand. She had no memory of putting it there though. In fact, she couldn't quite remember getting home at all. The last clear image in her mind was of her standing in the book store; the book seemed to burn her hands as she held it, the title started to swim out of focus in front of her and then –

And then what? She had gone somewhere. No. She was _taken_. The eery tugging sensation at her middle came back to Olivia then and a cold shiver crept up her spine. Something, someone had summoned her then. Was it the same person as always? Was it the hand on her shoulder? The warm voice she felt she knew? The sudden piercing ring of her cell phone made her startle, and without looking, Olivia knew who she would hear when she answered. _If_ she answered, the thought snuck into her mind. She needed to figure things out, to remember where she had gone and who she had seen. What would the world suffer if one of the Olivia Dunhams went awol for a day?

The phone was still ringing. And the thought came to her that maybe this was about more than finding answers. Maybe this was about the fact that she wanted to go back. That she liked it there. I don't even know where there is, Olivia thought. And she had a sneaking suspicion that it had less to do with where and more with who that made her want to go back. She didn't take the call.

* * *

><p>"Where the hell have you been, Dunham? I've worn your voicemail out over the past two hours."<p>

Had it really been that long? Olivia kept Broyles' angry gaze, not willing to give anything away just yet. All of a sudden she felt like this was a secret. Her secret. And she was in no mood to share.

"I had something important to take care of," she offered vaguely, a hint of a smile threatening at the corner of her lips.

She felt good. For the first time in a long time she actually felt… happy? Not sure what to attribute the change in mood to, Olivia tried to keep a straight face.

"More important than a dead body on our door step?"

Yes. "What?"

They were walking across the open plan office now and Olivia was aware of the heads turning as they watched her.

"Shapeshifters," Broyles said matter-of-factly. "It seems they're back. The body had been dumped in some bushes out front."

"A pretty strong message. What is it?"

"That's what we're trying to find out." He pushed open the door to his office and Olivia followed him in.

"I don't know what's going on with you, Dunham, but you look better than you have over the past month. Whatever it is though, I don't want it interfering with your work."

She hung her head guiltily and nodded.

"We've never had this problem before and I don't see a reason to start now. Especially now."

Broyles picked up a blue folder from his desk and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked and started flipping through it.

"Intel on a project they're heading up on the other side. Sources suggest that there's an uprising looming."

"Of shapeshifters?" She looked up at him now.

"They've been watching them closely over the past few months and there's a pattern, a strong one, that implies they're gathering an army. For what reason, we don't know yet."

"Or they know but they're not telling us."

"The time of being suspicious of the altverse has come and gone, Dunham. We're facing the same threat now and working together is our best option."

"Where's the body now?"

"With Dr. Bishop at the lab. The markings on the roof of the mouth were there, that's how we know. He's trying to find some more evidence that will help us find out where the murder happened."

"I'll look over this more at home," Olivia said, waving the folder at him.

Broyles surveyed her, eyebrows raised. "Why don't you go over to the lab and see if there's anything you can do there."

He was onto her. Of course he knew that she had no intention of looking through the folder just yet. Olivia had other things on her mind. And his suggestion to go to the lab was not a suggestion but an order. Olivia got the hint loud and clear as she nodded and then left his office.

* * *

><p>"The brain is a powerful instrument, Olivia," Walter said as he pored over the body in front of him. The entire front of his apron was splattered in blood as he had carved his way into the cadaver.<p>

"What people often forget is that it is built to do our bidding. Well, in most cases anyway. If you want to remember what happens during these… occurrences… simply instruct your brain to do it."

"And that will definitely work?"

"It should," Walter said with finality and picked something out from under the body's finger nail.

"Petri dish," was his simple command to Astrid and she obliged immediately.

"How far are we on this?" Olivia asked, motioning to the body between them.

"Time of death has been narrowed down to between two and two-thirty this morning. I'm hoping to get a location from the samples I'm rendering."

"Stomach contents are being analyzed now," Astrid offered and her statement was punctuated with a loud ping from across the lab.

"Better go and see what this young man's last supper was," Walter told her.

* * *

><p>"What is it?" Astrid asked.<p>

Olivia had followed her across the lab to check the results and she was shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. Astrid knew she wanted to say something but was questioning whether she should.

"Me or that?" Olivia asked, pointing to the vial of goop Astrid held in her hand.

"I know what this is, I'm talking about you. You look… great," she finished.

Olivia's face broke into an uninhibited smile that she was instantly aware of seeing as how it was something she rarely did of late.

"What? Tell me."

"Honestly? I don't know," she was still smiling as she spoke.

"Olivia –"

"I can go there whenever I want," she broke in. "Just this morning I was thinking about it and thought about how I wanted to go back and – I did."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. Only thing is, I can't remember what happens or who I'm with-" she stopped there. Olivia knew that who she was with was the key to the whole thing and the urge to go back started up again, tugging at her middle like before.

"Well maybe you should try what Walter said. If you can go there at will then I think there's a really good chance you can get the answers you want really soon."

Olivia took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She could still feel the remnants of a smile on her lips.

"I'm close to figuring this whole thing out. I can feel it. I can feel –" _Him_, Olivia almost said but stopped herself.

"You can feel what?" Astrid prompted when Olivia fell silent.

"You know that feeling you get when you're trying to remember something and it's right there but you just… can't… put your finger on it?"

"Tip-of-the-tongue syndrome yeah, I get that a lot. More than I would like actually," Astrid mused.

"Exactly, tip-of-the-tongue!" Olivia exclaimed a little too animatedly and Astrid jumped. "That's exactly what this feels like. I know I'm close, I know that I know what this is but-"

"I'm waiting!" Walter's voice boomed at them which made them both jump this time.

Astrid grabbed for the print out of the results from the analysis and, with a resigned shrug to Olivia, hurried over to where Walter was standing.

* * *

><p><em>Are you here?<em> Her voice echoed in her head because that's where she said it. Olivia didn't know where she was but it felt familiar. She couldn't see anything save for the bench she was sitting on but she knew it. This was a place she had been before.

_Olivia. _He was there. He had come to her.

_I came back._ She waited for him to sit before she spoke. He wasn't there, but she could feel him. Hear him breathe. He was close.

And then her hand was no longer empty. He had taken it and put his inside. It rested there so perfectly like it had been there a million times before. Olivia held on tighter, not completely aware of what she was doing.

_Don't forget this, Olivia. You're the only one who can do this._

_I won't. _

_They're watching, and they won't let me help you. So I need you to do this. I need you to remember._

_Who are they? What do they want?_

_Me. _

_What for?_

He didn't answer but she felt his thumb softly stroke the hand he was holding. And then she started feeling a shift. He was leaving again. Olivia gripped his hand tighter in a bid to stop him from fading away.

_Please don't. _She was pleading.

_Olivia._

_Not yet. Don't go._ Her hand was now in a fist but there was nothing inside it anymore. Olivia's heart sank but her hand remained clenched.

_Remember me._ She heard his voice in the nothingness; it was no more than a whisper.

_I will._ Her voice was soft when she spoke.

_I do._ Now it trembled. _I remember you._

Olivia opened her eyes to darkness and immediately recognized her room. Every word, every sensation was still there with her. She remembered. And she had told him, the voice, that she remembered him too. But that wasn't entirely true. She felt like she did but Olivia had no idea what it was that she remembered. She flicked the light on in frustration and leaned back into her pillows. The book. Olivia tentatively reached for it as it lay untouched on her nightstand and taking a deep breath, she started to read.

* * *

><p>"Could it be John? It's happened before and maybe-"<p>

"It's not John," Olivia cut Astrid off.

The two were at The Bridge for their weekly brief. Olivia had picked up Astrid and Walter and they had arrived ridiculously early. In an effort to speak to Astrid alone, Olivia had one of the techs distract Walter with a new toy in the lab just off the room. She wasn't ready to give up her secret for poking and prodding by the genius doctor and she made Astrid swear to silence before telling her the story.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I can feel it," Olivia said with certainty.

"So you know what he feels like but you don't know what he looks like… because you can't see him… you just know that he's there."

"Don't start this again," Olivia said as she sensed where Astrid was going with her line of reasoning. "I'm not making this up. It's real. _He's_ real."

"Okay," Astrid conceded slowly. "So how many times have you… felt him?"

"Almost every night this week," Olivia responded with a soft smile. Her features took on a wistful expression that Astrid surveyed with worry.

"Sometimes I can't do it. I'll try but it won't work. I think it has to come from his side too or something, I don't know."

"Olivia," Astrid couldn't keep the concern from her tone, "what is really going on here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you sound like you're… like-" she struggled to say the next words because they sounded so absurd to her. "Like you're starting to have feelings or… with this – I don't even know if I can call it a person."

She watched Olivia closely, expecting her to emphatically deny the accusation. But she didn't. she simply nodded slowly and Astrid saw her eyes mist over.

"I'm not starting to have," she said eventually. "It feels like I already have them." She looked at Astrid then, her eyes brimming with tears and confusion.

* * *

><p>Olivia's life came to a stand-still. She didn't care about the growing number of bodies that were turning up, signaling a rise in shapeshifter attacks. In fact, she didn't spend too much time thinking about work at all. Her thoughts belonged to the man she knew she remembered but couldn't quite remember; the fleeting moments they spent talking about nothing and yet everything. What was said was hardly as important as how she felt during these moments. When he touched her, said her name.<p>

_Olivia._

_I was waiting for you but you didn't come. _

It was her bedroom but not really; Olivia picked up on the surreal sense of things. She knew that she was not in her reality at all but in his and she knew without a doubt that this fact didn't make it any less real.

_I need your help._ He was always saying that.

_I'm trying. I want to help you._ She always replied.

_Remember me, Olivia._

_I will. I do! I just can't… when I go back… I can't remember…_

Her voiced trailed off as she felt his hand gently brush against her cheek. It was a touch strongly familiar and strangely comforting, eliciting emotions that she had never felt but in some strange way was used to. She had felt this way before. And it was this man that made her feel it. Olivia's mind raced to grab a hold of something solid, some true fact that will entrench all of what she was feeling and make it real. Out of the darkness she felt his breath on her lips, she couldn't see him but that was because her eyes were closed. Open your eyes, she told herself but didn't listen. He was so close she could feel the warmth from his body envelope her.

The brush of his lips against hers was soft, almost not there at all but it jolted through her body right to her very fingertips. Olivia was warm all over, her skin hyper-sensitive to every last touch.

His lips.

They held hers perfectly and beautifully as if they had done so a hundred times before.

Hands… intimately familiar… they traced patterns along her bare shoulder blades all the way down to her lower back. Yes, she knew those hands and more importantly, they knew _her_; evoking a primal reaction her body didn't know it had been missing all this time. They moved with the knowledge of a long lost lover, igniting little balls of white hot heat every place his fingertips went. Olivia felt the heat in her core start to swell as his hands brushed against her taut nipples, teasing…begging her to remember. She didn't. She was close but…

His mouth found hers again, this time she was open and waiting. The feel of his warm tongue as it found hers made her moan out loud, a sound that filled the stifling silence between them and reverberated through every muscle in her now trembling body. Olivia felt his hand find its place between her legs and became aware for the first time that she was wet. A practiced finger slid between her slick folds and gently started stroking her, each movement an erotic plea… _Remember me_… _Help me_… their sole intention to ultimately and consummately bring her to the edge of all that was pleasurable and sensual… and push her over.

_Olivia._ His voice came through the dark, thick with arousal and it rang in the deepest, darkest and most guarded corner of her heart.

She had heard him say her name before… say it like that… filled with want and unbridled desire. Olivia drank in the sound of him, the feel of him, allowing her body to submit to every last touch under his command. And for the first time in forever, she let go. She let herself be consumed by him, drowned in the intensity of their connection.

The kisses that had started off gentle and hesitant had mirrored her growing need for him as Olivia's tongue clashed hungrily with his. Her breath was coming hot and fast as his fingers knowingly worked her swollen clit. She felt the air around them grow heavy, electric and she opened her eyes for the first time. It was as if they were encased in a glowing orb as time-space itself started to shift around them but it wasn't the orb that was glowing. Olivia looked up at him and realized that it was there that the glimmer was coming from and it was so strong she could barely make out his features as it surrounded them both.

_Let go, Olivia. Trust me._

She found his eyes then, through her increasing arousal and the blinding glimmer she found them. And they swallowed her in.

_I trust you._ She managed to say through trembling lips as her the building pleasure in her core started to erupt in waves and the muscles in her body tensed up in their wake.

Suddenly it was like a lifetime of memories flooded back to her all at once and everything Olivia didn't know – the whispers, the cryptic messages, the blurry visions… this man – burst into her mind with crystal clarity and so loud that it echoed and she opened her mouth to let it out and she heard it before realizing what it really meant… The one word, cried out at the height of her passion, felt in every fiber of her being, with a need and ferocity she didn't know she had:

_Peter!_

* * *

><p>They were in her bedroom. Really her bedroom this time. Tears ran unbidden down Olivia's face as she held his in both her hands.<p>

"I remember you."

"I know," he said, a soft smile playing at his lips.

"What happened? The machine! And then you… What's going on? Peter…" she ended with his name simply because she could. If it were up to her she would make his name the only thing she ever said for the rest of her life.

"I saw the future," he started solemnly, and paused to give her a chance to say something but she was only looking at him with deep confusion, her fingers now tightly laced through his as if she had no intention of ever letting go. Peter didn't have a problem if this were in fact the case.

"Our world… Olivia, it was dying. It was dying because of me." He found the words easily because he had spent so much time in limbo, practicing what he would say if he ever got the chance. Olivia let him speak, her tears slowly subsiding.

"And you," his composure broke a little as he thought about her death and what that was like for him. Peter took a deep breath before continuing, "I had to make a choice. To save both worlds… to save you. I didn't know what the consequences would be but I didn't care… I couldn't let you…" The end of his sentence faded as he looked at her and smiled again.

"But where have you been? I don't understand."

"I don't know what to call it but it's not like here… or there for that matter. Time doesn't exist, or feelings… but I remembered you."

For the first time a smile broke onto Olivia's face as a warmth spread through her body, starting in her chest. "I remembered you too. I had this feeling, like I had lost something… someone."

"I know. But they wouldn't let me get to you. I didn't have the power to change anything."

"Who's they?"

"It doesn't matter now. Your memories were taken but I knew you had the power to get them back. The connection we have is not bound to this world, or time and space. We can find each other no matter what. They said that if you found me, if you remembered… we could have a chance to change things. Olivia you fought for me even when you weren't sure there was a me to fight for."

"So now what? You say we have a chance. What do I have to do?"

"You have to decide, Olivia… You have to choose whether you want a world without me or not."

"Then there's no choice," she said as she tightened her grip on his hands. "I don't want a world without you, Peter. I can't…" She flung her arms around him then and he returned her embrace, holding onto her as if it were the last time.

"I have to go." His voice sounded far away when he spoke and a frantic desperation sprang up in Olivia's chest.

"What? No! You said-"

"I know but you need to make your decision." He loosened himself from her grip with some effort and stepped back.

"I have! I made my choice. I want you Peter!"

"So then you'll have me," he said smiling. "But for now you need to go back to sleep."

"I don't understand. Why can't you stay?"

"When I made my choice to change the future, it had consequences that changed the very reality of our worlds. Your choice will do the same, once you make it. Things will change."

"I've already made my choice," she said again, this time the anger in her tone was evident. She didn't want to let him go when she had only just found him again.

"Good," was his only response and he bent down to lay a kiss on her forehead. Olivia closed her eyes to the feel of his lips, working hard to commit them to a memory she wouldn't forget.

* * *

><p>The sound of her ringing cell phone tore through the quiet apartment and ripped Olivia from her sleep. Still groggy and disoriented she lunged for the phone on her otherwise empty bedside table.<p>

"Dunham," she answered, her voice still full of unshaken sleep.

"We've got a situation," Broyles' voice filtered through to her. "I've sent you the address, be there in fifteen. Oh and Dunham, we got word that the other side is taking point on this. Apparently a high profile case with an even higher profile captain so try not to step on any toes."

The line went dead before she had a chance to say anything else. Olivia flopped back onto her pillow with a heavy sigh and gave her body a chance to get used to the fact that it was now awake. A few minutes later she was out her door without a shower or coffee and pulling her unbrushed hair into an untidy bun.

Charlie was there to meet her when Olivia arrived at the crime scene exactly seven minutes later. The whole area was abuzz with uniforms and Olivia cursed herself for not stopping for coffee first.

"An army of shapeshifters out to destroy the universe."

"Good morning to you too, Agent Francis. Don't you look lovely today. What, me? I wake up looking this good but thank you." Olivia gave him a cheeky smile as she fell in step next to him, making her way to the center of the action.

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed I see," he shot back playfully. "Oh wait, every side of your bed is the wrong side."

"You wish you could wake up in my bed, don't you?" Charlie broke out laughing at this and Olivia did too.

They were now close enough for Olivia to make out at least fourteen bodies strewn across an open square. Her face clouded with horror as she did a mental body count.

"Yeah, it's bad."

"What is it?" Olivia asked, not taking her eyes off the chaos unfolding in front of her as people hurried back and forth collecting evidence, taking pictures, asking questions and some even shooting the shit with partners and colleagues.

"Don't know. And the head prick in charge is not being very forthcoming either. They ask for our help but they won't tell us anything. Go figure."

"Why have they not cordoned off the scene?" Olivia asked breaking away from Charlie's side as she approached what looked like a civilian.

"Olivia Dunham, FBI." She said as she held out her badge. "I'm sorry, sir, but you're going to have to step back. This is a closed crime scene." The man surveyed her with amused interest as she spoke. He was sharply dressed in a designer suit with his shades perched on the top of his head.

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, sweetheart, but this is my show." He reached into his inside jacket pocket and brought out his show-me. "Peter Bishop, NSA."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay so this is where the fun starts! Peter's back but the whole reality has changed. I'm having so much fun with this because I get to start my OTP all over again :) Will update soon! This story will find it's way before September 23 because I'll be too busy flailing to get much done after that.<strong>


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